Catastrophe Waitress
by sophichka
Summary: 1992, the hottest summer Ohio has seen since the 30s. Bella is running hard from her past, and taking orders for peach pie along the way. Jasper is chasing his future from Texas to Jersey, at least, until his truck breaks down right in the middle of Bella's town. Bella/Jasper 90s AHAU
1. Prologue

_Seattle – 1979_

The gunfire was thundering as Charlie Swan took shelter behind a dumpster, a mouse scurrying out of the way as he slumped heavily against the filthy wall behind him. He flinched as he moved his hand to his radio, blood leaking out of the wound on his arm faster than seemed safe to him.

Fiddling with the dials on the radio he found it totally dead, and slumped in defeat. Gun battles were a foreign territory to the small town cop; the murder of a local girl two years previously had spiraled into the biggest case of his 15-year career.

Charlie rested his uninjured arm behind him and slumped awkwardly, craning his neck to check the damage to his other arm. He'd become separated from his partner, Billy, in the mayhem; each diving down opposite alleyways when the gunfire broke out. He pulled his weapon towards him from where it rested in his lap and checked the rounds remaining. Two stared back at him and he frowned, he'd fired at most five shots.

Footsteps rounded the dumpster and Billy was in front of him, a hand extended to help him up. Charlie smiled in relief and snatched it, groaning as the movement jolted his arm.

They found his body crumpled by the dumpster an hour later, four bullets from a service pistol buried in his chest.


	2. Dear Catastrophe Waitress

_Dear Catastrophe Waitress  
I'm sorry if you seem to have  
the weight of the world over you  
I cherish your smile  
There's a word of peace on your lips  
Say it, and with tenderness  
I'll cherish you_

_Dear Catastrophe Waitress – Belle and Sebastian_

_June 1992_

It was sweltering in the small, wood paneled diner, even with the ceiling fan on high. Bella lay stretched out in the freezer, apron strings untied and buttons undone, cigarette held as far away from her as possible as she tried to cool down before the lunch time rush.

The park in the town square was totally barren, the leaves on the trees turning brown around the edges, despite it being barely July. In the garage across the street all the doors were thrown open, overalls tied around waists and shirts discarded.

Jess threw herself down on the floor next to Bella, grabbing a handful of ice and holding it to her forehead.

"My grandma said yesterday this is the hottest she's felt it since '35."

Bella nodded along to Jess's chattering absentmindedly, dragging on her cigarette. It was a well-practiced lunch break ritual; Jess spoke and Bella smoked.

"Hey, Bells, you seen Tyler's got a new mechanic?"

Stubbing her cigarette out with the calloused heel of her hand and exhaling, Bella nodded.

"Yeah, Mike mentioned it when he came in for dinner last night. Be nice to have some extra help I guess, those boys work too damn hard."

The bell over the door jangled, and Bella didn't even need to look out of the freezer door to know the raucous group piling in was the boys from across the street.

Rising from her place on the floor Bella shook out her apron, and motioned to Jess to stand up as well.

"Come on, Jessie-Lou, we got a hungry town to feed."

"Hey, Bells! What's the pie today?"

"Peach," she called back to Mike, turning to top up Mrs. Webber's coffee as Jess shut the freezer door behind them. "Grab a seat and I'll bring y'all your orders over."

Picking up her coffee pot she turned to the booth in the window, pouring coffee in all the mugs. When she reached the fourth, a hand came out to cover and stop her.

"Don't 'spose y'all have somethin' a little cooler?"

Raising her head, Bella encountered a pair of ice blue eyes set under a shaggy blonde fringe; the face far too tanned to belong to any of the three mechanics that came for lunch regularly.

"Well now, you must be Tyler's new mechanic."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, nodding his head, "Jasper Whitlock."

"I'm sure I can rustle you up some lemonade, Mr. Whitlock. I'll be back in a tick."

* * *

Placing the lemonade and sandwiches on the table, she pointed out the payphone when Jasper asked, before heading over to clear Mrs. Webber's table. Balancing the tray on her hip as she wiped the table down, she watched out of the corner of her eye as the mechanic shoved his chair back before heading over to the payphone.

"Bells, shut your mouth, you're drooling."

Bella's mouth closed with a snap before she turned to glare at the mechanic leaning up against the counter.

"As if, Newton, I'm just admiring the view," she said, gesturing vaguely out of the window behind the pay phone.

Putting the tray in the sink behind her, she moved behind the counter to ring him up, keeping her gaze on the tall man at the payphone, seemingly engrossed in what the recipient of his call was saying to him. From the hunch of his shoulders it didn't seem to be the happiest conversation, and Bella itched to go and smooth the tension out of those muscles.

She watched him replace the receiver and rest his head on the bulky machine as she counted out Mike's change; it took her several attempts to pick out the correct amount of coins so engrossed was she in Jasper's profile. Mike chuckled good naturedly, and leaned over to count out his two quarters and a nickel himself.

She spent the rest of the afternoon floating on autopilot, coffee pot in one hand, tray in the other, pad and pen hanging from her apron strings. She'd given up on the ceiling fan at about three o'clock, and instead set up the standing fans; a tray of ice underneath each one in an attempt to cool the air, rather than just move it about.

Clocking off that evening, she scraped the sweaty pony tail off the back of her neck into a top knot, throwing her apron into the laundry and rushing to her truck. Cranking the windows down and the radio up, she threw the rusty red Chevy into gear and pulled out of the parking lot.

Driving past the garage, she saw Jasper leaning up against an oilcan out front, cigarette between his teeth, boot scuffing lines into the dirt. She raised a hand as she drove past, barely catching his eye as she barreled along at 40 miles per hour.

She ducked into the shower as soon as she got home and wallowed in the cool spray cascading over her body, washing away the sweat and grime of the day. She took her time lathering strawberry shampoo into her hair, combing the conditioner through and luxuriating in the sugar scrub.

Padding out of the bathroom twenty minutes later wrapped in a threadbare towel, she picked the phone of the cradle and went to sprawl on the sofa in the living area of her small bungalow.

"Hey, Daddy," she said when it connected and Phil picked up, "is Mom there?"

She waited while he yelled up the stairs for Renée, hearing the faint sound of her parents' bedroom door opening, her mother's footsteps getting louder as she descended the stairs.

"Hiya, honey," her mom said when she'd plucked the phone from Phil's hand, "I'd hoped you'd call today. I put some freesias on his grave for you, like you asked."

"Thanks, Mom," she whispered, stretching her legs over the end of the sofa, "I'd hoped to come up but I couldn't get the time off work, Mrs. Mallory wants all hands on deck at the moment."

"I know, Bells, and I know your dad would have been so proud of you, you're such a hard working young woman."

Bella flicked the tears from the corners of her eyes, settling in for a night of stories about Charlie. It had been one of her favorite pastimes when she was younger, her mom telling her stories about the father she barely remembered, the dashing, heroic young policeman, killed in a gunfight during a crackdown on gang violence.

Now the stories just made her sad. She was old enough to understand that her father hadn't been heroic; he'd just been unlucky. A young, small town cop who was totally unprepared when his small town murder lead him into the heart of Seattle's gang epidemic and who'd died as a result.

Bella had read the reports her last year of high school, there had been four bullets sunk into his chest, the bullet proof vest he'd been wearing had totally failed and caved under repeated rounds. The gun was never identified, and Bella had returned the closed files to the sadly smiling precinct receptionist with more questions that answers.

She'd been only a few days shy of her 7th birthday when he had died; the gathering of relatives assembled for a birthday party became a somber funeral party. Bella didn't remember much of it, just her mom crying a lot and her Grandma Swan holding her so tight Bella thought she'd suffocate.

"Hey, Momma," Bella whispered, interrupting her, "tell me the one about Jake."

She fell asleep to the sound of memories and her mother's laughter.


	3. The Boy With The Arab Strap

_It's something to speak of the way you are feeling  
__to crowds there assembled  
__do you ever feel you have gone too far?  
__Everyone suffers in silence a burden  
__/  
__she's a waitress and she's got style_

_The Boy With The Arab Strap – Belle and Sebastian _

Jasper wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm, leaving another streak of grease along his already dirty face.

"Well, Mr. Banner, I gotta say y'all were lucky. Coupl'a more days and this truck woulda left ya high and dry on the side'a the road."

The older man nodded his thanks, climbing in the truck as Jasper walked over to sling his spanner on the shelf.

Bracing his arms over the sink, he turned the tap on full, sticking his head under the flow before shaking like a dog. As Tyler yelled his name for lunch, he grabbed a towel from the side, scrubbing it over his face and arms.

The other three mechanics spent the walk over to the diner teasing Mike about some waitress named Jessie. Jasper hung back, not bothered about making friends with his new colleagues. Staying in town long enough to make friends was a rarity; it was best to not even try.

There were two young waitresses emerging from a door behind the counter when they walked in, aprons strings tied around blue dresses, both wearing chucks. Mike yelled across to the brunette—Bella—and she waved them into a booth by the window.

Jasper hadn't been paying attention once they'd slung themselves into a booth; and it wasn't until the smell of coffee invaded the air that he took notice of his surroundings. The thought of coffee made his skin crawl, his hand shaking as he stuck it out over the mug, almost knocking the coffee pot out of the waitress's—Bella's—hand.

She hurried off to get him something different when he asked, and he turned his head away, blocking out the smell of the coffee with memories of what was waiting for him up north.

He nodded his thanks absent-mindedly as she set the glass down in front of him, fishing a piece of ice out to chew on.

He zoned out of the conversation that was taking place around him, instead looking around the diner—nothing remarkably different than any of the countless other small town diners he'd sat in over the past 24 years.

He excused himself as soon as he'd wolfed down his sandwich and made his way over to the pay phone in the corner, digging a pile of quarters and a wedge of dollar bills out of his back pocket. Once he'd punched in the number he listened to the crackles from the long distance line, waiting for the girl on the other end to pick up.

"Hey listen, Rosabee, it's Jasper. Look, I'm not gonna make it up to Newark for the fourth, darlin'. I gotta work off the cost of repairin' the truck."

"But Jasper, you promised!"

He listened patiently to her protests, assuring her that she'd have plenty of fun without him, that Esme would make sure that the fourth was as fun as always, even without him there.

"Give my love to your Momma for me, and tell her I'll be up real soon."

Jasper replaced the receiver and leant his head against the body of the payphone, Rose's voice ringing in his ears. He'd not seen her in five years and had promised every year that he'd see her on the fourth of July, they're special day. He'd yet to make it a reality though, and he was starting to worry she'd lose faith in him the more he kept letting her down.

He went to rejoin the rest of the mechanics at their table, sliding a couple of bills across to Mike as he returned from the till.

Jasper spent the rest of the afternoon waist deep in the engine of his Ford F150, trying to figure out why the engine had cut out on him halfway between Houston and Newark. He had thought that maybe the rubber between the fuel pump and the fuel line had a leak in it, but having pulled it out and filtered water through it, seeing no sign of a leak, he was stumped.

By six he had given up. Heading out front for a final cigarette before he returned to the B&amp;B he leaned up an old oilcan, out ready for it to be taken with the rest of the trash the next morning. He heard the rumble of a badly tuned engine coming down the road towards him, and looked up to see Bella wave out of the window of an ancient Chevy 3100.

* * *

_16 years ago: Jasper is 8._

_"__Bye, honey!" his mother shouted, waving out of the window as his father backed the truck out of the driveway. "Be good for grandma!"_

_Jasper waved for as long as he could see the truck, taking Momma and Dad to the hospital to collect his new baby sister. He was excited, he'd already sworn he was gonna be the best big brother little Rosalie could ever have; he was gonna teach her to climb the biggest tree at the bottom of the garden and make sure no one picked on her at school, ever. _

_Jasper spent the day coloring in pictures in the living room, while Grandma sat on the couch white-faced, talking in hushed tones on the telephone. He wasn't allowed to go outside, and when Grandma asked for a hug, she held him too tight, and he thought his lungs were gonna burst._

_He told her all his plans for Rosalie, how he knew that Momma had to look after her for a little bit until she was big enough to play with him, but then he was gonna share all his toys with her, he'd even let her play with his civil war soldiers; not even his best friend Emmett was allowed to play with them._

_Grandma nodded in all the right places, but she wouldn't look at him, and Jasper thought she might be crying, but he didn't know why she'd be crying so he carried on coloring._

_It was very dark outside by the time the headlights from the truck lit up the lounge window. Grandma should have put him in bed hours ago, but maybe she forgot._

_Dad walked in carrying a tiny little bundle in his arms. Jasper jumped up to go and get a first glimpse of his Rosalie, but Grandma snagged the back of his shirt and pulled him back._

_Dad's face was all red and puffy, like he'd been crying._

_"__I'm so sorry, son," Grandma said._

_Jasper didn't understand why she was sorry. Rosalie was here, why were Dad and Grandma crying? Maybe Momma could cheer them up when she came in from the car._

_Grandma took Rosalie from Dad's arms and Dad started crying, big, choking sobs that seemed to explode out of him. He reached blindly for Jasper and started rocking him back and forth, squeezing him even tighter than Grandma had._

_He repeated Grandma's words._

_"__I'm so sorry, son, I'm so, so sorry."_

_Jasper went to bed that night with the image of Momma, smiling and waving out of the window of the truck, emblazoned on the back of his eyelids. _


	4. All Grown Up

_All grown up  
__And you don't care anymore  
__And you hate all the people that you used to adore  
__And you despise all the rumors and lies of the life you led before_

_All Grown Up – Elvis Costello _

Bella lounged languidly in bed the next morning. She had flicked only a sheet over her legs and left the window open, the muggy air making it difficult to breathe.

When she finally stood up, sheet wrapped around her shoulders like a cloak, feet bare on the wooden floors. She crossed to the window and pulled the curtains back, the scene outside as lazy as the one inside, kids lounging on lawns and shop fronts thrown open, employees soaking up the sun.

After pulling on some clothes, Bella dragged on some sneakers and pulled her hair into a ponytail, grabbing her purse as she headed out of the kitchen. Her one day off a week was her day for running errands, but the heat had sucked all of the motivation out of her.

Shutting her apartment door, she waved to Angela as she walked past her on the way to her truck. The engine came to life with a noisy growl when she turned the keys in the ignition, and she backed carefully out of the parking lot.

* * *

Bella dashed around the Stop&amp;Go, piling groceries haphazardly into her cart. She was sorely tempted by the cool allure of the ice cream freezer but resisted, knowing that it would merely melt in her truck while she ran the rest of her errands.

As she steered the cart around the corner, she saw Jasper lazily examining the labels on cartons of instant noodles.

"Hi!"she said, making her way over to him. She stopped to grab some eggs from the shelf to the left before closing the gap between them.

"Miss Bella," he said, tipping his hat to her, "how are ya?"

Bella laughed. "Hot!" She glanced into his basket and couldn't help but notice it was piled high with instant food. "Say, I don't suppose you've got great cooking facilities at the B&amp;B?"

Glancing down ruefully at his basket, Jasper replied, "Not really. Not sure that it'd make a whole loada difference if I did though."

Feeling sorry for the obviously lonely man who was clearly hundreds of miles away from his family, Bella reacted impulsively.

"Why don't you come for dinner tonight?"

Jasper looked surprised at her invitation, reaching a hand around to the back of his neck and rubbing.

"Well, if you're sure that's okay. I haven't had a decent meal in weeks."

Assuring him that it was fine, Bella rattled off her address and directions. She started to push her cart toward the checkouts, but then she turned back to the tall Texan behind her.

"Hey, Jasper?"

Jasper looked up from his perusal of the noodle labels, eyebrow raised at her.

"What's your favorite food?"

He grinned widely. "Mexican."

* * *

The doorbell rang just as Bella reached in for the enchiladas. Shoving the oven door closed with her foot, she yanked the hair tie out of her hair and rubbed an arm over her face to eradicate any traces of tomato sauce.

Pulling her apartment door open, she saw Jasper leaning lazily against the doorpost, a six-pack of beer dangling from his fingers.

"Hey," she said, pulling the door wider, "come on in. We're just waiting for Mike and Jess, and then we can eat."

Jasper walked into the small living area, dropping the beer on the table as he passed, before turning to face her.

"I appreciate this," he said, a smile fluttering at the corners of his lips. "Think my stomach was startin' to forget that food other than dehydrated noodles existed."

Bella giggled nervously, a hand fiddling with her necklace. Now that Jasper had arrived before Mike—her intended safety barrier—she was feeling unsure, not used to being alone with an almost stranger.

She waved him toward the sofa, tossing a can of beer from the fridge at him, grabbing his off the table and slotting them into her half-empty refrigerator. Snatching herself a can of Diet Coke, she parked herself in the chair opposite the sofa.

"So, tell me how a Southern boy like you stumbles into our small Midwestern town," she queried, tucking her feet underneath her.

"Broke down on my trip cross country. Tyler was the only mechanic in a fifty-mile radius who'd let me work off the cost of repairin' my truck." He fiddled with the ring of the can, running his finger under it three times before popping it off. He poured the amber liquid carefully down the side of the glass, sucking the foam off the top. He crushed the can in his fist, before putting it on the coffee table in front of him.

Bella nodded absent-mindedly. From the tick in his jaw she could tell that it was a blow to his pride having to work off the repairs, and she wished she could do something to make his life easier.

Mike and Jess arrived not long after, and the four of them decamped to the dining table, Bella seating Mike and Jess next to each other while she and Jasper sat at opposite ends of the table.

Watching Jasper banter with Mike, keeping up with his notoriously sharp tongue, and allowing the sarcastic insults to slide off his back, Bella decided that Jasper was a good fit for her ragtag group of friends.

"Say, Miss Bella," he said with a smile, turning away from his conversation with Mike, "you don't sound as though y'all're from round these parts neither?"

Jess sat up straighter at his question, her gaze darting to Bella as Mike shook his head slightly at Jasper, who opened his mouth to apologize.

Bella waved him off. "No, I'm from Washington," she said, a hand going up to fiddle with a lock of hair. "Came down here about a year ago, soon as I graduated high school."

Dropping her hair, Bella picked up her and Jess's plates, then scooting her chair back and standing. "Anyone for cobbler?"

Jess smiled sympathetically at the abrupt change of subject, rising and grabbing the boys' plates. Jasper looked momentarily confused before Mike engaged him in conversation about the Cowboys' chances next season and the subject was forgotten.

* * *

Jasper and Mike left together at about ten, Jess stayed behind to chatter and help Bella clean up.

"So when are you gonna admit you like Mike?" Bella teased, dunking a plate into the sink one last time before passing it to Jess, who was waiting with a towel.

"I've told you, it'll never happen." Jess rubbed the towel briskly over the plate before reaching up to place it in the cabinet just above her head. "We tried once in high school. He lasted a week before he had Alice Brandon in the back of his truck again. That girl has her claws into him well and good."

Bella shook her head pensively, "you know, I think you're underestimating him. She's been in New York close to a year now, without a word. I think he's seeing her the same way you and all the rest of his friends do now."

Jess' gaze lingered a little too long on the glass she was drying.

"I don't know, Bells. I don't want to ruin what we already are."

Pulling her hands out of the water and drying them on Jess' towel, Bella smiled ruefully. "I can understand that, Jessie-Lou, believe me."

Tugging the towel away from Jess, Bella grabbed her hands and shoved her toward the sofa. "You pick the movie, I'll grab the popcorn."


	5. Somewhere Over The Rainbow

_Someday I'll wish upon a star  
__And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.  
__Where troubles melt like lemon drops,  
__High above the chimney tops,  
__That's where you'll find me.  
_

_Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Judy Garland_

Jasper was up and out of bed with the dawn, the tree outside his window containing a nest of squawling baby birds demanding their breakfast. He threw the window open, breathing the soupy air deeply and running a hand through unkempt hair.

Dragging on a pair of oil stained jeans and a t-shirt that might have once been white, he crossed to the sink on the other side of the wall to splash water on his face. He scrubbed his face dry with the rough towel, running a hand over his jawline he decided he could do without shaving.

Jasper cut across the town square and into the diner, setting off the chimes above him.

"Miss Jessica," he tipped his hat at the waitress behind the counter as he took a seat in front of her.

Jessica bent to grab a mug from below her, placing it in front of him before filling it with steaming coffee.

"Breakfast?" she questioned, pushing a menu towards him, "you're up early, didn't think Mikey opened up 'til 8?"

Jasper pulled the menu towards him, flicking his eyes up to meet Jess's.

"Pancakes sound good," he handed the piece of paper back, "couldn't sleep, figured I may as well get a head start on my truck."

Jessica nodded, scribbling his order on her pad before turning to pass it through the hatch into the kitchen.

"You think you'll be sticking around for long then?" she asked, leaning her elbows on the counter in front of him.

"Reckon it'll take me at least a month to fix up the truck, probably another month to work off the cost. Headed to Jersey after that though."

"What's in Jersey?" she asked, reaching to grab a cloth and starting to wipe down the counter in front of him

"Family," Jasper said tersely, dropping his eyes to follow the motion of her cloth.

Sensing the young man in front of her didn't want to talk about it, Jess smiled softly at him.

"There's a lot of us with checkered pasts around here," she told him kindly, "you don't feel obliged to tell nosy old me or anybody anything, ok?"

* * *

Clocking off later that day, Jasper headed across the grassy town square to the hardware shop, the high school across the road awash with teenagers being let free for the afternoon.

He nodded at the elderly man behind the counter as he moved amongst the shelves, stopping when he found the car parts, weighing up the different pistons in his hands. Deciding the larger of the two would do the job, he moved towards the man.

"This'll fit a Ford F150?" he questioned, "forgot to check before I left."

The man nodded an affirmation, ringing Jasper up and handing him his change.

"Have a good night, son."

* * *

**_15 years ago: Jasper is 9_**

_"__Son!" the shout bellowed through the house as Jasper tucked his baby sister into her crib, crooning a lullaby as he did so._

_Kissing her downy head one more time, he moved to the door, gently closing it. His grandma had gone visiting her sister for a week, and his dad was still too sad to look after baby Rosabee, so she said it fell to Jasper to be the man of the house and make sure she was ok._

_He hurried downstairs, finding his dad in his armchair, cigarette butts littering the floor around him, a half empty bottle of whisky dangling from his fingers as small eyes leered at Jasper. _

_"__Get over here, son," Jasper hastened to follow the command, the memory of last night's burnt arm still throbbing beneath his pajama sleeve._

_He still wasn't fast enough for his father though, who grabbed the boy by his shirt collar and flung him away. Jasper stumbled, catching his shoulder on the wall, letting out a hiss of pain as the joint protested._

_"__Don't be such a pathetic, useless wimp," his father sneered, snatching at Jasper's sleeve, bringing the boy's face into line with his, his stale breath washing over Jasper as he tried desperately not to breathe it in._

_"__Think you're so big don't you," he snarled "taking care of that little monster who stole your mother away. Should be ashamed of yourself!"_

_Jasper trembled in his father's grasp. He'd seen him drunk before, heard him shout sometimes, but Momma or Grandma had always kept him away from Jasper when he was in one of his moods._

_The man shoved his son away, Jasper fell to the floor, the hand he'd put out to stifle his fall catching on the lit end of a cigarette. He snatched it up to his mouth with a hiss, sucking on the red skin. _

_His father laughed, turning back to the baseball game on the TV and his whisky. Jasper hurried up to Rosabee's room, assuring himself that she was still ok. She was sleeping peacefully still, so Jasper retreated to the bathroom to stick his hand under the faucet. The red skin was already starting to blister, and the young boy jerked when the cold water first hit it._

_Wrapping his injury in a hand towel he crossed to his bedroom, curling up into the smallest ball he could in his bed and staring at the stars through his small window._

_Grandma would be back next week, and she would make it all ok again, he was sure of it. If he could only make it through to next week, it would all be ok again._


	6. Summer Of '69

_Oh, when I look back now  
__That summer seemed to last forever  
__And if I had the choice  
__Yeah, I'd always wanna be there  
__Those were the best days of my life_

_Summer of '69 – Bryan Adams_

Bella's truck rattled into the fairground parking lot, the breaks protesting with a squeal as she swung into the closest space she came across. She could smell the bonfire and food stalls before she had even opened the door of her truck.

As she reached over the tailgate, feeling for the picnic blanket and basket, a hand landed on her waist, a strong tanned arm reaching over her and grabbing them for her.

"I like your dress," Jasper's breath fanned across her neck, raising goose bumps where it passed.

Bella turned and smiled at him, smoothing her hands across the patterned fabric.

"Why thank you good sir," she laughed as he tipped his hat at her, "never got much of a chance to wear summer dresses where I grew up."

"Washington State," Jasper mused, "does it really rain as much as they tell us lot down South?"

Chuckling, Bella checked him with her hip, snatching the blanket from him and leaving him to carry the basket as she weaved through the crowds to where they'd agreed to meet their friends.

Bella dropped the blanket on the ground when she reached Mike and Jess, tossing Mike the pager he'd left in the diner that afternoon. He caught it with a relieved huff, tucking it safely back in his pocket as he helped Bella pull the blanket straight.

The four of them stretched out on the blankets, Jess settling her head in Mike's lap as Bella smirked at her. Jess rolled her eyes and ignored her, fixing her eyes on the skies. As dusk fell fireworks rained down from above them, the sky lighting up in color.

* * *

The four of them headed back to Bella's much later that evening; Jasper and Mike trying to persuade Bella's rusty old VCR to take Mike's new Star Trek cassette without eating it while Bella and Jess popped the tops off beers in the kitchen.

"Hey Bells," Mike hollered, "your machine light's flashing."

"I thought you were meant to be dealing with the VCR," Bella's head appeared around the kitchen door, taking in the sight of Jasper with his head under her TV stand.

"Answer machine," Mike expanded, waving a hand in the direction of her telephone.

"My mom must have called to wish me a Happy Fourth," Bella shrugged, "I'll ring her back tomorrow."

* * *

The shrill ring of the phone interrupted them about half an hour into the movie. Bella shrugged off the noise, waving off Jess' offer to pass her phone. The answer machine clicked on, Bella reaching for the remote to being the movie playing again.

"Hey Bells," the voice came from the answer machine, "it's, uh, it's Jake. I was just calling to say Happy Fourth and wondering if you got my earlier message."

Bella had rocketed to her feet, snatching the receiver up and moving away from her friends sprawled out around the TV.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," Jasper was surprised at the vitriol in Bella's voice.

Bella's scowl deepened, she listened to the man on the other side of the phone for a few seconds more before slamming the receiver back into its cradle.

"Sorry," she muttered, moving back to the sofa and curling back into her position next to Jasper, "old friend from Washington."

Jasper slung an arm around her shoulder, giving the shaken girl a friendly squeeze as she smiled tremulously at him.

* * *

Bella was banging on Jasper's B&amp;B room door early the next week, smirking from ear to ear when he answered wrapped only in a sheet, eyes blurry from sleep.

"I thought I'd show our southern visitor one of Ohio's finest traditions," she said, thrusting a baseball cap into his hands, "get dressed, and wear that instead of your Stetson. I'll meet you at the diner in half an hour."

Jasper chuckled as he watched her walk away, turning the baseball cap over in his hands and seeing the Cleveland Indians' logo grinning back at him.

* * *

Handing him a hot dog, Bella sunk down into the seat next to Jasper's as the game got underway.

"You know there's no way they're gonna beat the Rangers, right?" Jasper questioned, settling his cap more firmly on his head.

"Whatever you say, Texas," Bella said, "neither of them hold a candle to the Mariners after all."

"Yeah yeah, Washington, we all know Texas plays the best ball in the whole damn country."

Bella snickered, handing over the popcorn.

"Maybe don't say that to a girl whose dad is a coach for the Mariners, hey buddy?"

"Seriously?"

"Yep," Bella confirmed, "taught me everything I know," she added, pulling out her pencil to keep score.

* * *

"Jessie-Lou," the next morning found Jasper slouching across the diner's counter, beckoning the waitress on the breakfast shift over towards him.

Jess swayed over from Mike's table, fixing a questioning look at the troubled young man at her counter.

"Yes, honey?" she asked, filling his coffee mug as she reached him.

"What is Bella doing so far from home? She obviously still has family there, old friends ringing her up, she told me her dad's involved with the Mariners?"

"Step-dad," Jess spoke idly, wiping down the counter in front of her, "and to be honest I think she'd rather Jake didn't keep ringing her."

Jasper hummed in acknowledgement, his eyes following the sweeping motion of Jess's hands. The forlorn look in his eyes stirred something in Jess, and she took pity on him.

"Jake's an ex-boyfriend who never quite got the hint," she dusted the crumbs from her hands into the bin, "beyond that I don't know much. She arrived July after we finished high school, never left."

She rested a kindly hand on his shoulder, smiling sadly when he flinched away from the contact, and crossed back to Mike in the window.

* * *

Jasper paced in front of the diner as he waited for Bella to finish her shift, clenching and unclenching his hands. Watching as the lights went out, he approached the doors, Bella bent down to lock them.

"Bella," he announced his presence from a few feet away so as not to startle her.

"Hey," she smiled, turning around to face him, "I was just heading home. Fancy keeping me company for dinner?"

Jasper reached a hand around the back of his neck, fingers rubbing just below his hairline.

"I was actually, uh, well I was wondering if you fancied going out for dinner? I've heard there's this great little restaurant a couple miles down the road, run by an Amish family and, well, while in Amish country, right?"

Bella laid a gentle hand on his arm to stop his rambling, fingers catching under the cuff of his shirt.

"Sounds wonderful, let me get changed first?"

* * *

Bella arrived home that night with a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth, Jasper's arm wrapped around her waist. He pulled her to him on the porch, smiling down at her as he stroked the hair back from her face.

Bending down he placed gentle kisses on the upturned corner of her lips, before fully capturing them with his own.

"Goodnight Bella," he hummed softly into her mouth, unwillingly pulling himself away.

He turned to go but Bella caught his hand, tugging him gently towards the house with her.

"Stay?" she asked, teeth capturing her bottom lip.

Jasper wrapped himself around her, and allowed himself to be pulled inside.

* * *

Early July turned to mid July, and the final few green leaves on the trees gave up their battle and turned brown. Jasper and the rest of the mechanics had abandoned shirts for the season; working in overalls tied around their wastes, sweat smearing grease and oil more liberally across their skin than usual.

Bella and Jess spent all the time they could hiding out in the freezer at work, packing ice underneath the fans in an attempt to cool down the stifling diner. Bella slept with her sheets thrown off, windows thrown as wide as they could go.

She had ventured out to Cleveland late one afternoon to find a birthday present for Phil, abandoning her search after half an hour thanks to the sheer oppressiveness of the heat. Pulling her car back into her driveway she had found Jasper propped up on her porch.

"Hey there Cowboy," she jumped from the cab of the truck, slamming the door behind her, "shouldn't you be at work?"

"Tyler closed up today," he hummed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Mike and I got off early. Jess is fancying a trip to the falls, thought we could join them."

Bella squealed so loudly Jasper flinched.

"Yes!" she grinned so widely Jasper was fearful her face would split in two, "we haven't been to the falls for ages. Oh it's such a Midwest town, you're in for a treat, Texas."

"I thought this was a Midwest town," Jasper teased, swatting her on the butt as she moved past him to her front door.

Bella rolled her eyes at his childishness, pulling open her screen door and unlocking the green front door of her small house.

"Go on," she said, shoving him towards the kitchen as she moved to her bedroom, "you're in charge of the picnic while I get changed."


	7. She's Got You High

_She's got you high and you don't even know yet  
__She's got you high and you don't even know yet  
__The sun's in the sky, it makes for happy endings  
__You can't deny you want a happy ending_

_She's Got You High – Mumm-Ra_

Bella entwined her fingers loosely with Jasper's as she pulled him towards the bar, hula skirt swishing as she brushed against an inflatable palm tree.

"They do this every year," she slurred into his ear, "it's like, totally traditional."

Jasper chuckled at her as she slurped her margarita messily through a straw, tipping his beer back and rubbing a hand, sticky from the bar, against his shorts.

Grabbing Bella around the waist, he steered her away from the bar. Catching sight of Jess in a corner, he gently tugged her towards her, depositing her on the seat next to Jess.

Bella tipped her head up to grin at him as she kicked off her shoes.

"I can't feel my gums," she laughed at him.

"I'm not surprised," Jasper chucked her gently under the chin, "you must have drunk your weight in tequila."

Jasper slipped away to the bathroom, rubbing a hand over his face as his other braced against the sink, staring himself down in the mirror. The smell of tequila was under his fingernails, he scrubbed them viciously, rubbing soap halfway up his forearm.

Mike came out of the cubicle behind him, bleary eyed.

"You alright, man?" he addressed Jasper as he pulled his fly up.

Jasper nodded tersely, splashing water on his clammy face as he watched his pupils dilate in the mirror.

"Here," Mike staggered over to him, "hair of the dog."

Mike pulled a hipflask out of his back pocket, silver and scuffed. Uncorking it he offered it to Jasper, who waved it away with a grimace.

"You sure?" Mike pushed it towards his face, "its Jack, thought every Texan loved that?"

* * *

**_14 years ago, Jasper is 10._**

_He could hear him before the front door even opened. Burrowing further underneath the covers, he clutched Grandma's sweater even closer. She'd worn it the day before she went to find Mommy and her smell still clung to it. _

_He hears his bedroom door open and lets out an accidental squeak of terror. He feels the hand land on his covers and the tears leak out. He swipes them away as quickly as possible, praying no wet streaks remain as the covers are yanked off. Boys don't cry. _

_A hand wraps itself around the top of his arm, his father's face looming closer to his in the darkness, the stench of whiskey strangling Jasper's breathing. _

_The first slap is expected and he barely flinches. The punch to the stomach looses a groan of pain, his legs inadvertently curling into the fetal position. The face above him curves with a satisfied smirk._

_Jasper closes his eyes and tries to ignore the blows, concentrates on being as quiet as possible._

_Rosabee can't wake up. Rosabee can't ever know._

* * *

Mike laid a hand on his shoulder, Jasper flinched away from the contact, the pain of his legs colliding with the sink behind him clearing the fog of his father's face from his eyes.

"On second thoughts, maybe no more for you," Mike laughed awkwardly, and motioned with his head towards the door, "maybe we should grab the girls and call a cab."

Jasper nodded, the motion unnaturally jerky. He peeled his fingers from their grip on the sink and moved towards the bathroom door.

"I've got my truck, I'll drive."

Mike shot him an incredulous look; "dude, you look wasted. Bella'll never let you drive, cop's daughter remember, she knows the risks too well."

"I thought her dad coached the Mariners?" Jasper paused in his pursuit of the door.

"Step-dad," Mike rubbed a hand along the back of his neck, a muscle jumping in his cheek, "she didn't tell you?"

Jasper shook his head, fingers wrapping around the door handle.

"He died when she was pretty young," Mike didn't meet Jasper's gaze, eyes finding an irregularity in the tiling, "think for all intents her step-dad is her dad."

Tugging the door open, Jasper pushed back into the throng of the bar, finding Jess and Bella still in their corner. Bella had fallen asleep, her head resting on Jess' shoulder.

The taxi ride home was short and not enough to wake Bella, so Jasper carried her to her door. He fumbled with her keys as he pushed her front door open and headed towards her bedroom.

"Bigger than Rose," he mumbled as he tried to juggle holding her and pulling the covers back on her bed.

She stirred at that, one hand moving to help pull the covers back, the other moving to his face.

"Who's Rose?" she slurred, pulling her shoes off as he laid her in the bed and yanking the covers up to her chin so she could wriggle out of her clothes.

Jasper passed her the pot of makeup remover on her dresser, perching on the edge of her bed as he watched her work it into her skin.

"My sister," he said softly, handing her tissue to wipe the cream away with and replacing the pot where he found it, "she's 15."

"I didn't know you had a sister?" Bella asked, as she discarded the tissue and tried to pull on her pajamas under the covers, "does she live with your parents?"

"No," Jasper picked at a loose thread on the bed, "she lives in Jersey."

Bella didn't push him any further, instead scrambling across the bed to sit in his lap, tangling her fingers in the short hair at the base of his skull and pressing her lips to his.

"Tell me about her," she demanded, tilting his head back so she can look him in the eye.

"If you tell me about your dad," he countered, adding at her look of confusion: "Mike told me he was a cop."

A sad smile tugs one corner of her lips up.

"He was," she bowed her head, "he was shot when I was 6, I hardly remember him."

Jasper tilted her chin up, and laid a hand over her heart.

"Yes you do," he soothed, "you keep him in here."

"His name was Charlie," she pushed her head into his shoulder, muffling her voice. She breathed in his smell, timing her breaths to his heart beat as she tried to calm herself.

"My mom died when I was 8," this admission brought her head back up, "I sometimes forget what she sounded like, or smelled like. But I know she'll always be in here," he picked up one of her hands and rested it against his chest, mirroring his, still attached over her heart.

Bella turned, tugging him towards the head of the bed. She lifted her arms up like a child.

"Hold me?" her bottom lip quivered as she asked.

Jasper kicked off his boots, discarded his jeans, and gathered her to him.


	8. Fields of Gold

_Will you stay with me, will you be my love  
__Among the fields of barley  
__We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky  
__As we lie in fields of gold_

_Fields of Gold – Sting _

Jasper woke up the next morning to a still warm bed, but when he threw out his arm to find Bella he encountered only sheet. Stretching, he pulled himself up into a sitting position and languidly cracked his neck.

Hearing voices from the living area he stood up from the bed, dragging Bella's sheet around his waist, and padded softly across to the door.

"I deserved to know," Bella's voice cracked as he walked down the stairs into the lounge, "as soon as your dad told you, you should have told me."

There were tears rolling down her face so Jasper sunk down into the sofa next to her. He laid one hand comfortingly on her knee and used the other to gently flick away her tears. He could hear the low buzz of a voice on the other end of the line but couldn't work out what they were saying.

"I've got to go, Jake," Bella sat up straighter and entwined a hand with the one resting on her knee, "I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop calling me, please."

Bella took the handset away from her ear and rested in back in its cradle. Taking a shaky breath she leaned sideways to place the telephone back on the side table. She turned her head and buried it into Jasper's chest.

"Sorry," she mumbled, her breath raising goose-bumps right over his heart.

"Want to talk about it?" Jasper asked, gently stroking his fingers through her hair.

"Not really," she laughed without humor.

Jasper gently grasped a chunk of hair and tugged her head back.

"I told you about Rose," he reminded her, "fair's fair. It'll make you feel better to get it off your chest."

"Charlie was the trade for that," she mumbled, not meeting his eyes, "Jake's nobody anyway. A face from the past that I have no interest bringing into the future."

* * *

Mike shouted along to the radio as he barreled his truck down the many rural back roads that littered their corner of Ohio, a steep ravine falling away to one side, a river rushing alongside on the other. Jasper followed behind in his recently repaired truck more cautiously; he didn't have the encyclopedic knowledge of the road's hairpin turns that came with spending one's whole life in this small town.

Mike turned left and Jasper followed, the trucks throwing up gravel in the small parking lot. Jasper jumped down from the cab before turning to the passenger side and lifting Bella down.

"I could have got down myself," Bella grumbled to him as she straightened her skirt, reaching on her toes to lift the picnic basket down.

"More fun this way," Jasper grinned, looping one of his arms through one of hers and tugging her over to where Mike and Jess were waiting.

"Jessie-Lou," Jasper tipped his hat at her, slapping Mike on the back with a grin.

The four of them set out along the trail that cut across the fields in front of them, Bella swinging the picnic basket in her free hand. Once they had reached the small copse of trees about two hundred yards from the car park, Bella and Jess began laying out the picnic blankets while the boys explored the contents of Bella's basket.

* * *

As the sun went down it cast a soft orange glow over the four twenty-somethings; Bella was lying with her head resting in Jasper's lap, while Jess was sitting propped against Mike, one of his arms resting gently around her shoulders.

A herd of cows had gathered in the distance, their soft moo-ing and the cicadas singing the only sound they could hear. A slight breeze stirred the leaves of the trees, and Bella yawned loudly.

Bella's yawn shattered the stillness. Jess untangled herself from Mike and started tidying up the picnic while Bella pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Guess we should start heading back," Mike said, gesturing at the herd of cows, "don't want them bulls to get between us and the car park."

"They're not gonna maul you," Jasper sniggered, piling the plates together and slotting them back into the basket, "those are heifers."

"We've got ourselves a genuine cowboy," Mike held out a hand to help Jess stand, "you see a lot of cows back home then, Texas?"

"I'm a city boy," Jasper snorted, "but even a city boy knows that bulls don't have udders."

Mike had the grace to look shamefaced.

* * *

Bella's phone rang while she was showering, so Jasper pulled the cord to drag it towards him and picked up the handset, knowing Bella wouldn't want to miss a call from her parents.

"Hello," he said, fumbling along the side of the sofa for the TV remote, there was silence on the other end of the line, "Bella's phone," he clarified.

A throat cleared before a male voice spoke.

"Uh, hi, who is this?"

"Jasper," he successfully located the remote and directed it at the TV to flick the channel to the football, "who's calling please."

"How do you know Bella?" the voice didn't answer his question.

"I'm her boyfriend," Jasper propped his feet on Bella's coffee table as certainty settled in his gut as to the caller's identity, "I'm pretty sure she asked you to stop calling her, Jake."

Breath hitched on the other end of the line.

"I just," his voice broke, "sorry, I wasn't expecting that answer."

Jasper rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to hang up now," he told Jake, "I strongly suggest you don't call again."

"Wait," Jake sounded desperate, "can you just tell her I'm sorry? That I know I should have told her as soon as I found out but I was scared. But it was my dad that's in the wrong not me, I never did anything to hurt her."

Jasper locked eyes with Bella as he looked up, she was standing in the doorway dressed in a robe, a towel wrapped around her damp hair.

"I'll relay the message," he said, not breaking his gaze.

He replaced the phone onto the coffee table and quirked the corner of his mouth at Bella. The small gesture was all it took to break her dam and the tears spilled out of her eyes. With two strides Jasper was by her side, gathering her into his arms.

"Darlin'" he crooned, resting his chin on her head, "it's ok."

He pulled her across to the sofa and laid her across his lap, his hands going to the towel in her hair and gently rubbing in through her damp hair. Bella was crying so hard she was hiccupping, a fist going to her eyes and scrubbing.

"Hey, hey," Jasper said, catching her hands in his, "don't be so rough, you'll hurt yourself."

Bella shook him off and sat up.

"I suppose you want me to tell you what that was all about," she spat, eyes not meeting his.

"I'd like to help you feel better," Jasper chose his words carefully, "and if you think telling me about it would help, then yes."

Bella sagged against him, the wind taken out of her sails.

"Jake was my high school boyfriend," she still wouldn't meet Jasper's eyes, "his dad was a cop too, my dad's partner back in the day. One of his stray bullets caught my dad in a shoot-out, that's how he died."

Jasper pulled the sobbing girl into his side, both arms winding around her protectively.

"And Jake knew?" he guessed.

He felt Bella's head shake beneath him.

"Not for a long time, we both thought he took a bullet from the people they were pursuing," a hand went up to scrub at her face, "but he found out junior year. His dad told him. I had to find out through a stray comment at graduation."

"Oh honey," Jasper crooned, pulling her even closer.

"We were meant to get married," Bella sobbed, "it just wasn't fair."

She brought a fist up in frustration, knocking it against Jasper's knee as she punched at a cushion.

* * *

**_7 years ago, Jasper is 17_**

_Rose was cowering in her room, hands pressed tightly over her ears. She could hear him downstairs; hear his stomping footsteps and the cupboard doors slamming. Normally Jasper was here when he was like this and he made it all ok, but daddy had come home early today and Jasper was still at school._

_The footsteps came up the stairs, louder and louder. She heard Jasper's door slam open, the door handle thunking heavily into the plasterboard. _

_"__Fuck," the curse was growled and ragged, ripped from her father's throat. _

_She pushed herself further against the wall as the footsteps grew closer to her door, wincing when her door swung open. She could smell the whisky on his breath as he shoved his face right up against hers._

_"__Do you know where your brother is, little murderer?" he crooned, sickly, falsely sweet, "you're thick as thieves you two."_

_She sobbed harder, nose and eyes running, pushing herself into the wall as hard as she could, desperate to escape the man in front of her. His hand went to her collar and he lifted her up, it squeezed too tightly around her throat and she coughed._

_"__Where's Jasper now, Rosalie?" he mocked, a hand pinching her cheeks painfully, "your knight in shining armor's seen you for the little bitch you are, finally."_

_Rose hiccupped in terror, the collar of her shirt constricting her breathing. Her eyes rolled back into her head in panic._

_"__Put her down," the voice came from the doorway behind her father._

_He dropped her and she hit the floor hard. Swinging round to find Jasper in the doorway, her father swung a punch. Jasper dodged but it glanced off the side of his face, a bloody gash left across his cheek from his father's wedding ring._

* * *

"Jasper, Jasper!" Bella was shaking him, her voice desperate.

Jasper shook his head to clear the fog and looked down at the girl on her knees in front of him.

"Oh thank god," she engulfed him in a hug, "I think you had a panic attack."

Jasper pushed her away and stood up, rubbing a hand across his forehead. He pushed the window open and took deep gulping breaths of air. Bella came up behind him and he span around quickly, preventing her from touching him. He held up a hand.

"Just don't," he muttered, "please."

She reached up to catch his hand and tugged him gently back towards the sofa. Sitting down she pulled him down next to her and settled his head in her lap, carding her fingers through his hair.

"You don't have to tell me," she hummed softly, "I worked it out a while ago. I think you're a very brave man, Jasper. Rose is lucky to have you."

Jasper stared up at her in disbelief.

"You knew?" he whispered

"Since you told me about Rose," Bella nodded, "I put it together. I was waiting for you to tell me."

Jasper lifted a hand and twined it in her hair, tugging her lips down to his. He pushed himself up and gathered her into his arms, never once allowing their lips to break apart for more than a second. He carried her towards her bedroom, covering her face with tiny butterfly kisses every step of the way.


	9. Grow Old With Me

_I'll pull the sheets  
__When it's cold on your feet  
__Cause you'll fall back to sleep  
__Every time  
__Grow old with me  
__Let us share what we see  
__And oh the best it could be  
__Just you and I_

_Grow Old With Me – Tom Odell_

His hands moved softly against her back, lips pressed to her neck as he buried himself as deep inside her as he could go. She sighed gently, one hand settled in his hair, the other pushed against his chest.

Later, when they both were sated, she curled up against his side, his arm thrown around her, her mouth pressed over his heart. Jasper held her as tight as he dared, the sweat on their skin mingling together; _and in this heat our two salts mingled be._

Bella stirred, pushing the thin sheet further down the bed and raising her arms above her head. Jasper's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the way the motion made the dusky pink of her areolae rise up her chest.

Pulling the sheet around her shoulders she stood and padded softly across to her bedroom door, gesturing for him to follow. He did as she bid, grabbing his boxers as he made his way across her room towards her. She entwined her fingers with his as he reached her, tugging him gently towards the kitchen.

Later, when she had french toast sizzling on the stove and coffee making the steady drip into her mug, a glass of lemonade sweating heavily in front of him, she turned to face him.

"I think you should talk to someone," she held up a hand as he protested, "I'm not suggesting you seek medical help or anything, just that it might be therapeutic. It might help sway a judge if you ever wanted to seek custody."

Jasper regarded her for a moment, ducking his head to avoid her gaze as she turned back to the pan on the stove.

"I'm afraid," he said softly, fingers drawing patterns in the condensation on his glass, "what if they say it shows I'm unfit, what if I lose any chance I have of getting her?"

Bella abandoned the toast on the counter and turned to rest her hand gently on his back, stroking through his flinch softly.

"Jasper, your father is a convicted child abuser, they're not going to favor his custody above yours."

"But they might favor Esme's." he muttered, one hand snaking out to catch her around her waist.

"And if they do then you know you did all you could, that Rose is safe and happy, and that you can continue to have a relationship with her. Neither of you are ever going back to your father, Jasper."

* * *

"I don't think he was a bad man, you know," Bella looked up from her book at this admission, "Something Charlotte said at our session yesterday. He was dealt a bad hand in life and dealt with it poorly, he wasn't inherently evil."

Bella put her book down.

"And I think, I know I won't turn out like him now."

Bella smiled and went to wrap herself around him.

"I know you won't either.

* * *

September came and it brought with it a letter from Rosalie; she had settled into her first year of high school and had her first boyfriend. It took Bella half an hour to convince Jasper that driving to Jersey and reading the fourteen-year-old boy the riot act was a bad idea.

The leaves were falling off the trees but the increase in rain turned the grass in the town square a lush green, the fresh, dewy smell permeating into the businesses surrounding it. Bella spent her days at the diner inhaling deeply as she passed each open window.

"You're drooling you know," the comment brought Bella back to earth; she leveled a glare at Jess.

"I am not _drooling, _Jessie-Lou," she grumbled, turning her back on the view of Jasper working shirtless across the road, "I am merely appreciating the site of my _boyfriend_ working hard."

"Working shirtless, you mean," Jess snickered, turning to continue refilling the sugar dispensers.

Mike came in for lunch alone that day, the other boys working through the break, pressing a kiss to Jess's cheek as Bella smirked in the background, drying a coffee cup for a minute too long as she watched her two best friends flirt.

Jasper stuck his head around the door midway through the dinner rush, snatching Bella for a brief hug, and a promise to be over later that night.

"You better be, Cowboy," Bella smiled, "Making fajitas especially."

Jasper made an exaggerated smacking noise with his lips as he turned to leave.

* * *

October found Bella stepping off a plane in Seattle, one hand in Jasper's and the other clutching her rucksack strap so tightly her fingers were turning white. Renée saw Bella before her daughter had seen her and rushed at the two of them, engulfing Bella in her arms, chattering rapidly at Jasper as she did so.

Phil was calmer, shaking Jasper's hand with a wary grin, hugging Bella briefly before slinging her bags over his shoulder.

The drive to Forks passed quickly, Renée gossiping about inane things that had happened in Fork over the year and a half Bella had been gone – "and Lauren's married that Sam boy, oh her mom's not pleased about that, not at all" – while Phil interjected with questions about Bella's life in Ohio.

Bella's childhood room fascinated Jasper, pictures of a young Bella with a boy – he presumed to be Jake – perched on rocks on a beach, or sat around a campfire. The dream catcher nestled above her bed was frayed, the beads starting to slip off, a few scattering across the pillows below them.

* * *

Bella started the car nervously the next morning. Jasper had gone with Phil to Safeco Field and her mom was also at work. She glanced in all her mirrors before pulling her old high school car out onto the street.

Humming along softly to the radio, Bella tapped her fingers against the steering wheel as she drove along the familiar streets. Taking a sharp left next to the sporting good's store, Bella pulled into a small drive, a lovingly restored classic car sitting proudly in front of her.

Bella took a deep breath and steeled her nerve before opening the car door. Her hands trembled as she walked the short path to the front door, but her knock on the peeling front door was firm and sure.

She soon heard footsteps approaching the door and almost turned tail and fled, but instead made herself stay.

"Hello Jake," she said as the door swung open.

Bella was fiddling with a loose button on Jake's faded couch when he cam into the room and handed her a mug of hot tea. She smiled her thanks at him and blew on the scaling liquid, a steam cloud rising up and temporarily blocking her vision.

"So uh," Jake scratched awkwardly at his head, "what brings you back to Forks?"

"My mom," Bella answered, "she's still here. Brought Jasper down to meet her and Phil."

At the mention of Jasper Jake cast his eyes downwards, toe scuffing at a mark on the wooden floor. Bella cast her eyes around the familiar sitting room, not much had changed since she'd last been there over a year before.

"How's Billy?" Bella broke the awkward silence, placing her mug down on the coffee table and leaning forwards.

"They reopened the case," Jake said, eyes meeting hers, "but he's ok."

"I didn't know they opened it again," Bella shot a questioning glance at Jake, her brown furrowed.

"Yeah I guess when you went digging last year someone else decided to have a look at the files too, something didn't add up or something, I don't know."

"I'm sorry," Bella murmured, "I didn't mean to stir up old history. I just had to know, y'know?"

Jake nodded, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," the corners of his lips drooped down, "I was scared, I didn't know how you'd take it."

Bella laughed bitterly, picking her mug back up and taking a drink to still the cruel words lining up on her tongue.

* * *

Bella lay in Jasper's arms that night, relaying her conversation with Jake to Jasper, tears glistening on her eyelashes, some spilling down her cheeks faster than Jasper could wipe them away. He shushed her and gathered her to him tighter, landing butterfly kisses over her face.

She closed her eyes, her face slackening in sleep.


	10. King and Lionheart

_And as the world comes to an end  
__I'll be here to hold your hand  
__'Cause you're my king and I'm your lionheart._

_King and Lionheart – Of Monsters and Men_

Driving the 20 miles to Charlotte's office was starting to become routine for Jasper's Tuesday nights. He didn't particularly enjoy their sessions; Charlotte was a hard taskmaster and Jasper sometimes felt that her goal was to push him beyond his breaking point.

He'd voiced his concerns to Bella late one night, eyes closed and humming softly. She'd run a hand through his hair, the dark blonde strands tickling her knuckles.

"How does she make you feel?"

"Empty, numb," he buried his face into her chest, his words becoming muffled "calmness though, there's that as well."

Bella wrapped her arms carefully around him as she felt the front of her shirt become wet, Jasper's face hot with tears.

* * *

"Higher, higher!" Bella squealed as Jasper lifted her to the top of the tree.

Stretching, she delicately balanced the angel on the top. Jasper growled as he swung her around and over his shoulder, dropping the two of them carefully onto the couch he pressed a kiss onto her mouth.

"You'll stay here tonight?" she asked, eyes shining up at him, "I don't want you waking up alone in the B&amp;B on Christmas Morning."

Nodding, he crossed to Bella's VCR, slotting in the tape he had borrowed from Jess earlier that day.

"Of course."

"Miracle on 34th Street?" Bella questioned as he fast-forwarded through the adverts, the tape whining in protest.

"You showed me your Christmas traditions, I'm showing you mine. Now hush, it took me half an hour to wind the tape back into the cassette, I don't want to miss any of it."

* * *

Jasper called Rosalie the next morning, him and Bella yelling a "Merry Christmas!" down the phone as soon as Esme passed the handset to her. Jasper spent half an hour on the phone with her, hearing in detail about all the presents she received – "But yours is my favorite, Jazz!" – before Esme called her to get ready for church.

Bella and Jasper spent the day with Jess and her parents, Mrs. Stanley had made enough food to feed a small army, and Bella gratefully took the proffered left overs; it would save her cooking for several days.

Boxing day was the last of their three days off, and they both made the most of it, the two of them taking Jasper's truck to the town over for the annual Boxing Day dance at the town hall, Bella's dark hair swept into a beehive, white gloves up to her elbows. Jasper's eyes didn't leave her the whole night.

* * *

January was bitter that year, the snow setting in hard and leaving the diner empty most of every day. Jasper and the other boys from the garage spent most of their time digging cars out of the snow rather than fixing them.

Bella and Jess spent their days at the diner huddled around the space heater, warm woolen cardigans thrown over their blue uniforms. Bella's Walkman was used to provide some entertainment, Whitney leaking out of the headphones turned upwards to allow the sound to travel.

Bella was humming along one day in late January when the door blew open, a gust of freezing air brining with it a snow covered man. Jasper's arms went around Bella as he crooned the rest of the lyrics into her ear; _I will always love you_.

* * *

Bella's mom phoned one late evening in February. The reopening of Charlie's shooting had turned up nothing of interest and the case had been closed again. Jasper held Bella while silent tears streamed down her face and in bed later that night, he whispered sweet words as he helped her lay the last of her hurt to rest.

* * *

March brought with it Maple Syrup Season, Bella explaining the tradition to Jasper as she dragged him to the town square to watch the first tree of the year be tapped. The atmosphere was festive; stalls selling various maple syrup flavored fast foods were dotted around, horses and buggies mingled amongst the parked cars as the local Amish community came out in force as well.

Later, at the Pancake Breakfast at the firehouse, Jasper was sandwiched between Bella and Jess, maple syrup dripping down his chin. His eyes sparkled with mirth, his head tipped back in laughter as Jess regaled him with stories about Bella's clumsy first few weeks at the diner.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Whitlock," Bella grumbled, "least I got my job on my own merits, rather than having to beg to be able to fix my truck."

Jasper bowed his head in acquisition.

"Yes, but at least I never spilt peach pie on my boss," he snickered, tears shining in his eyes.

Bella scowled, flicking maple syrup off her spoon towards him.

* * *

Rose's birthday was in May; Jasper sent her a fancy dress, perfect for her first high school prom. Esme sent a whole roll of film containing photos of her wearing it, hands throwing the skirt out as she twirled around, a cheap rhinestone tiara entangled with her blonde hair. Jasper developed the photos and tacked them above his bed at the B&amp;B.

Bella had sent her own little gift, a small bracelet carefully stitched out of fabric roses; Rosalie declared it the prettiest gift she had ever received and wore it waking and sleeping, refusing to take it off even in the shower until Esme gently reminded her that the water would ruin it.

Jasper didn't begrudge his present playing second fiddle to his; he was just happy that the girl who his life revolved around loved Bella as much as he did.


	11. Goodbye My Almost Lover

_I never want to see you unhappy  
__I thought you'd want the same for me  
__Goodbye, my almost lover  
__Goodbye, my hopeless dream_

_Goodbye My Almost Lover – A Fine Frenzy_

Jasper's hands shook as he hung up the phone; it slipped out of his clammy hand and hit the receiver with a thunk. He raised a hand to his hair, pushing it out of his eyes as he sank down onto the small bed.

His eyes turned to Bella, curled up against the wall, still sound asleep, and he lurched towards the bathroom, retching acid that burnt his nose and throat.

Grabbing his car keys, he closed the door as quietly as possible, slamming his truck's door, hands clutching at the steering wheel as his head sunk down and the sobs began to wrack his body. Turning the ignition, he threw the car into drive, and backed out of Bella's driveway.

Arriving back at the B&amp;B he couldn't get out of the car, the desire overwhelming him was just to go back to Bella's to get back into bed with her and pretend he had never received the phone call. Mustering his strength, he slowly made his way into the B&amp;B to check out.

* * *

Route 30 passed in a blur through his window, Bryan Adams blaring from the radio as the Ohio countryside dashed by. Reaching a rest stop, he pulled in and reluctantly made his way to the pay phone.

Dialing the number he now knew by heart, he braced his hand against the wall for support, and prayed the girl he wanted to speak to would pick up.

"Family Diner, how can I help?"

"Jessie? Listen, it's Jasper, I need to talk to you."

* * *

He pulled into the driveway, and took in the house. Grey clapboard and white trim, a large grassy front yard; it could have been any house in this part of the country.

Jasper shoved his door open; making his way over to the front door he reached to ring the doorbell. Excited squeals came from inside, several young voices clamoring to be the one to open the front door.

The voices came closer, and the white door swung open to reveal a young girl, about 15 years old, fair hair and sparkling blue eyes. Jasper fell to his knees as he took in his baby sister for the first time since she had been rescued from their father five years previously.

"Rosabee," he choked out, rubbing a hand over his matching eyes to clear the tears.

She looked confused, but reached for the familiar looking man crying on her doorstep and engulfed him in a hug. A woman appeared behind her, eyes concerned until she took in the similarities between her charge and the young man crying on her doorstep.

"You must be Jasper," she smiled, reaching down to touch his shoulder, retracting her hand and smiling sadly when he flinched away, "I've just put the coffee on, won't you come in?"

Rosalie and Jasper spent several hours becoming properly reintroduced, before he produced the death certificate from his back pocket, creased and worn from the amount of times he had taken it out to stare at since he had collected it from the post office the week previously. Esme smiled brilliantly as she took in what this meant for the beautiful young teenager she had looked after for so long.

"I was hoping y'all could look after her a while longer," Jasper explained, "I want to get down to Texas and sort out selling his house so I can buy us one of our own."

Rosalie's arms clung tight around his neck, her damp face pressed up against his ear as she whispered:

"Will Bella come too?"

Jasper had to blink back his tears as he smiled down at his baby sister.

"I really hope so Rosabee, but I have to ask her first."

Rose smiled, fingers going to her wrist to toy with the bracelet Bella had sent her all those months previously.

* * *

Jasper pulled into the drive of their new house, Rose craning her head out of the passenger side window to get a good look at it.

"So, Rosabee, what do you think?"

Rosalie took in the small house in front of her, grinning widely when she saw the expanse of land either side, a small barn to one side of the house – perfect for a horse, she though, although she'd have to work on Jasper for that.

"I'll take that grin as a good thing then!" Jasper laughed.

Rose turned to him, nodding enthusiastically and giving him two thumbs up. Jasper turned to get out, swinging an arm around her shoulder as they walked up the paved path to their new home.

"If the outside gets that bigger smile, I'm half worried y'all's face is going to break when you see the inside."

Jasper swung the front door open and Rosalie followed him into the house, she dashed up the stairs towards the bedrooms, throwing herself on the double bed in the master bedroom and declaring it as her own.

"Fat chance," Jasper laughed, pushing her gently off the bed, "This is my room. Your room overlooks the back."

Rosalie huffed good-naturedly, picking herself up off the floor and turning to leave the room. Crossing the hallway to the other bedroom she pushed open the door, a grin breaking out across her face when she took in the view from her window, a horse grazing languidly in the farm her room overlooked.

Turning, she found Jasper in her doorway and smiled tremulously at him.

"It's perfect, Jazz," she sniffed, swatting away her tears as she engulfed her brother in a hug.

* * *

Bella's phone rang shrilly the next day, two minutes after she arrived home from the diner. Knowing the only person that knew her schedule well enough to call so precisely was Jasper; she crossed the room to answer the phone.

Her and Jasper had been in sporadic contact since that day he barreled out of her house so quickly; Jessie came banging on her door on Bella's day off to relay the message Jasper had left at the diner. Bella had stayed in the background while Jasper sorted custody and moving to Texas, not wanting him to feel like she was an extra burden he had to juggle.

* * *

Jasper's stomach was in knots as he waited for Bella to pick up, knowing that by asking her to move to Texas with him he was asking her to uproot herself from her home and friends for the second time in less than two years.

Rose came in from school less than half an hour later to see her brother slumped over their telephone, tears streaming down his face.


	12. There Goes The Fear

_Think of me when you close your eyes  
__But don't look back when you break all ties  
__Think of me when you're coming down  
__But don't look back when leaving town today  
__There goes the fear again, let it go  
__There goes the fear, let it go_

_There Goes the Fear – Doves_

_Seven Years Later – July 1999_

It was sweltering in the small, wood paneled diner, even with the ceiling fan on high. Bella lay stretched out in the freezer, apron strings untied and buttons undone, cigarette held as far away from her as possible as she tried to cool down before the lunch time rush.

The farmland behind the small town was totally barren, the plants all turning brown around the edges, despite it being barely July. In the school across the street all the windows were thrown open, sweaters tied around waists and shoes discarded.

Leah slammed the door of the freezer open, poking Bella in the side with her foot as she scooped a handful of ice up and held it to her forehead.

"Lunch time rush 'bout to start, Bells."

Bella nodded, stubbing her cigarette on the floor, "I hate Texas," she grumbled as she stood up, "I can't stand this heat."

Leah laughed as she balanced on her tiptoes to snatch down a carton of ice cream, "thought you'd be used to it after all these summers."

Crossing to the door Bella gathered her sweaty hair into a topknot, rubbing her hands on her blue dress.

"I'm never gonna get used to this."

* * *

While she made fruit into the shape of faces for the young children at table 12, three young men barreled through the door, the bells signifying their entrance to Bells' Diner ringing cheerily, laughing as they pushed and shoved towards their regular table by the window.

"Boys!" the sharp rebuke came from Leah.

Quieted, the three of them grabbed a menu, reading over the selections they knew by heart as they waited for one of the girls to make their way over to their table.

Leah's coffee pot appeared above their cups, Jasper gratefully wrapping his hands around the sweating glass of lemonade that Bella placed down for him instead.

"Usuals?" Bella questioned, not bothering to reach for her notepad.

She rested a hand on Jasper's shoulder as she waited for their answers, the other absently carding through his hair.

As the boys nodded she pulled away, smiling at the little girl eating her fruit face when she caught her eye.

"Mommy!" the little girl grinned, "look! My face has long hair just like yours!"

Bella smiled wider, crossing to the table and chucking the little girl gently under the chin.

"Long like yours too, angel," she said, sitting down and gathering the girl and her younger brother to her, "now, why don't you take your plate over to Daddy and ask him to wipe that mess off your face?"

The little girl took off towards Jasper, her banana smeared face lit up by her giggles, while Bella picked up the toddler left at the table.

"My little handsome man," she cooed "how on earth did you get kiwi in your hair?"

The child gurgled happily, his hands going to Bella's face to rub kiwi on her cheeks too. Bella laughed, grabbing a napkin to clean the mess off the two of them. Crossing to the counter, she strapped him into the high chair behind it, and began to make lunch for her husband and his colleagues.

* * *

Jasper wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm, leaving another streak of grease along his already dirty face and walked over to sling his spanner on the shelf.

Bracing his arms over the sink, he turned the tap on full, sticking his head under the flow before shaking like a dog, grabbing a towel from the side and scrubbing it over his face and arms.

A blonde head appeared around the door of the garage, the delicate features screwed up in disgust as she took in the sight her brother made.

"Jasper!" Rosalie laughed, rubbing a few stray water drops from her arms, "I sure hope you're planning to take a shower before Carlisle and Esme get here."

Jasper turned from the sink, growling as he started towards Rose, who squealed and turned to run. Jasper was too fast for her though and had his arms around her seconds later, rubbing his damp, dirty hair on her face as she giggled, squealing and wriggling as she tried to escape.

Jasper slung her over his shoulder and started out of his garage, not bothering to lock the door of the small business as he crossed to their house a couple of hundred feet away.

Depositing her on her feet by the porch, Jasper swept into a low bow.

"At your service, ma'am."

Rose laughed and shoved his shoulder, shoving him towards the bathroom while she crossed to the kitchen to help Bella finish dinner.

Esme and her husband of five years, Carlisle, arrived not too long after. Esme immediately engulfed both Jasper and Rosalie in hugs, before drawing Rose off to the kitchen, leaving Carlisle and Jasper alone.

"How've you been, son?" Carlisle rested a hand on Jasper's shoulder as he asked the question.

Jasper nodded, crossing to the liquor cabinet and pulling out one glass, filling it before handing it to Carlisle, snatching up a can of soda for himself.

"Good," he said, toeing at the corner of the rug "business has picked back up again now it's summer. Thinking we might be able to afford that horse Rose's been after next year."

"And Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"She's good," Jasper smiled, "the diner's really taken off, she's making more than the garage is some months."

Jasper grinned at Carlisle, bending down to pick up his young son as he crawled into the room behind his mother, his daughter following behind, her young face screwed up in concentration as she carried the vegetables. Rose bounded into the room, setting a joint of beef on the table and moving to snatch her nephew from her brother's arms.

Slinging his arm over her shoulder and taking in his family, Jasper smiled.

* * *

**if anyone fancies seeing my moodboard for this fic: -catastrophe-waitress on tumblr (include both of the ****hyphens)**

**this has been set in and around Geauga County, OH**

**my little unnamed town is heavily based off of Burton, OH, the falls are of course Chagrin, and the Amish cafe Jasper takes Bella to is Mary Yoder's Amish Kitchen in Middlefield, OH. **


End file.
